Car-coupling



(No Model.)

E. W. & S. 0. WOOLLEY.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 256,186. Patented Apr. 11,1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FJDWARD W. WOOLLEY AND STARR O. WOOLLEY, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,186, dated April11, 1882.

- Application filed December 19, 1881. (No model.)

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD WNVooLLEY and STARR O. WooLLEY, of Chicago,in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Car- Oouplers; and we do hereby declare that thefollowingisa full and exact description of the same, reference'being hadto the accompanya ing drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

Our invention relates to that class of inventions known as car-couplers,its object being to secure a simple, cheap,and effective coupler anduncoupler by means of which all possibility of failure in its operationis avoided, and all danger of injury to operators or of loss of life isdone away with.

It consists of certain combinations of the several parts, theconstruction, arrangement, and operation of which parts will behereinafter fully explained.

Throughout the following description reference will be made to theaccompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure 1 is a sectional view, showing all the features of ourimprovements; Fig. 2, a view in detail, showing a lever by means ofwhich the pin is raised to effect the coupling of cars; Fig. 3, a viewin detail, showing the couplingpin used; Fig. 4, a perspective view,showing a modification of the couplingpin used; and

I Fig. 5, a perspective View of the uncoupling device.

Like letters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The draw-head A is made of wrought-iron or malleable cast-iron. It isintended to be suspended from the car in such a manner that it may bemoved to either side about threebe raised one or two inches by theopposite draw-head, thus allowing for the dilference in the height ofcars, and rendering our device applicable to any car.

To the outerend of the draw-head is secured, in the usual or any desiredmanner, the hoppershaped mouth-piece B, by means of which the linkorshackle C is guided into the opening in the draw-head.

At the point a, Fig. 1, a shaped recess is formed, as shown, by means ofwhich the link 0, the end of which presses against the upper face of therecess, is always held in a proper position. buffer, 1), against whichthelink G strikes after passing the coupling-pin. By the use of thisbuffer we avoid the danger of the link being fractured or broken byconstant use, as would naturally be the case were the link allowed tolever D hasits bearing. This leverD is made of any suitable material orsize, and is of the shape shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is formed of onesolid piece of metal, forming two arms, at

d; the straight one, d, being designed to pass down through a slot madein the draw-head B, and to occupy such a position as will bring thelinlg 0 in contact with it when said link is forcedintothedraw-head. Theotheroreurved arm, d, passes through a hole made in the coupling-pin Efor that purpose, the object of which arrangement will lie hereinaftermore fully explained. This lever D swings on a pin which has a bolt-headon one end, and in the other end a slot through which passes aspring-key, thus enabling the operator to remove it and the leverquickly and resort to the ordinary pin in case of breakage, or toreplace the broken parts with little delay. This spring key avoids theliability of the pin being misplaced or gradually jarred out of place bythe motion of the cars, which would be the case were an ordinary nut andthread used.

To the extreme end of the curved arm (1 is secured a small ring, 0,through which is passed a link of the chain f, the other end of saidchain being secured to the armf of the uncoupler F. This uncoupler,which is secured in any desirable manner to the end of the car, is madeof any suitable material, and consists of a bar about the width of anordinary car, so that its extreme ends will not project beyond the sidesof the car, thus enabling any.

In this recess we insert a rubber one standing on the ground to uncouplethe cars without endangering his life by stepping between said cars.This bar is provided at its center and at each end with arms orprojectionsfff, the two latter,f f,- forming handles, by means of whichthe entire bar, together with the center arm,f, is revolved, thus bymeans of the chainfraising the couplingpin E and uncoupling the cars.

The coupling-pin used by us is an ordinary coupling-pin with a hole orslot, 9, cut through it near its upper end, as shown in Fig. 3. As inthe couplers now in use, it passes down through an opening made in thedraw-head for that purpose, and engages with the link or shackle.

In Fig. 4 we have shown a coupling-pin which we will describe and claimas being a modification of our invention. With this pin we use a metalcap, 9, secured in any desirable manner to the top of the pin, insteadof the slot g. Through this cap the arm of the lever passes, thusaccomplishing the same result, and at the same time securing a pinstronger than the one first described.

The operation of the coupler is as follows: The link or shackle is firstsecured by hand in one of the draw-heads, and is held in a properposition by its end which has entered the draw-head being pressedagainst the upper face of the -shaped recess a. The cars then comingtogether, the other or protruding end of the link is brought in contactwith the inclined face of the mouth-piece B, by means of which it isguided into the opening of the drawhead. Upon entering the draw-head thelink is brought in contact with the &I111 CZ,'Wl1lGll it forces back.This action causes the arm d to rise, carrying with it the coupling-pinE, thus raising the pin perpendicularly. This continues until the linkhas passed the arm d and coupling-pin, when, the pressure which had beenbrought to bear against them being removed, they, by gravity return totheir normal'position, thus effecting the coupling of the f f of the barF is turned. This causes the bar, together with the arm f, to revolve,and through the medium of the chain f, attached to that arm and to thering on the lever D, raise the coupling-pin, and thus eifect theuncoupling of the cars. To the end of the car is attached aspring-catch, h, so arranged that when the handles ff are revolved forthe purpose of uncoupling the cars it will maintain an elevated positionuntil released by the person in charge. The object of this will bereadily conceived by those versed in railroad switching.

It will be seen that by the use of the device herein described certainold means are utilized, which, when taken in connection with new partsdescribed, form a cai coupler perfect in its operation and cheap in itsconstruction. By its use the coupling or uncoupling of cars is renderedcertain, and all danger of loss of life heretofore encountered isavoided.

Having thus described our invention, what we. claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-coupler, the draw-head A, provided with the shaped recess a,rubber bufi'er b, and mouth-piece B, in combination with the link G,lever D, having its bearing in the up rights 0 c, and coupling-pin E,provided with slot 9, all the parts constructed and operatingsubstantially as described.

2. In a device for uncoupling cars, a spring catch, h, and bar F, saidbar provided with handlesff and armf, in combination with chain f, leverD, and pin E, the parts constructed and operating substantially asdescribed.

This specification signed and witnessed this 12th day of December, 1881.

E. W. WOOLLEY. STARR (J. WOOLLEY. Witnesses:

OHAs. VoGEL, Tnos. W. RYAN.

